


Care for a dance, Inquisitor?

by hopefulsilence



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Birthday Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Love, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 10:24:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5413289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopefulsilence/pseuds/hopefulsilence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the Inquisitors birthday. What surprises await her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Care for a dance, Inquisitor?

They had been up for what seemed like days; Cullen, Cassandra and Varric. They were planning for it was the Inquisitors birthday soon. From the cake, that Cullen so mercifully managed to get Josephine to make, to the location that Leliana found within Skyhold; it was perfect. They had managed, just in time, to get reservations at a high end eatery in Val Royeaux by spending most of the Inquisitions funds; but Cullen wouldn’t have had it any other way. Their protests were met with his calm words of ‘she deserves this’. He knew that she deserved this and he wanted to make it perfect. Besides, it wasn’t like any of them knew where the Inquisition was going now since no threat remained for them.

Back in the main hall of Skyhold, Dorian and Cole were in charge of decorations, much to Dorian’s dismay because with Cole having the mentality of a child, it made this _way_ more troublesome than it needed to be. After what felt like hours, they managed to have streamers of purple and silver flowing from the walls and flowers of lavender at every white table-clothed table. Vivienne was in charge of a small trick that would make it seem like glittering snow was falling from the ceiling but it would fade away before reaching the Inquisitors waist. Everything was shaping up perfectly.

\----------

When the day finally arrived, Cullen approached Ellanas’ bed chamber with a little pep in his step. With a small rasp on the large wooden door, he called her name as he lightly pushed it ajar.

“Inquisitor?” he questioned. He was met with silence. Was she still around? He racked his brain for a place she might be. He didn’t want to be as brazen as to enter her quarters without permission but he needed to know where she was so he could begin the plan. 

He backpedaled into the corridor, pondering. Where could she be? He quickly made his way to the kitchens where the smell of pastries filled his nostrils. Josephine was hunched over the open oven reaching inside to make sure the cake was level.

“Have you seen her?” he inquired to the smaller woman, his voice colored with slight panic. She knew exactly who he was talking about for it was written on his features.

“No. Last I saw, she was making her way to the battlements, but through the side entrance.” she responded. Slight relief coursed through him. He nodded at her and with a quick smirk, exited the kitchen with a quickened pace.

\----------

He shoved the side door open with more force than he intended making it clatter against the back wall. Citizens walking about gasped and stared at him like he was a Shade and he looked back embarrassed, his cheeks reddening. He scanned the nearby crowd for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. He sighed, crushed. This whole day was going to be horrible, he could feel it in his gut. He mulled over every possible place she could possibly be as he sunk down to sit on the stairs.

“And that, my dear girl, is how one would do that?” a male voice suddenly perked his ears. Looking for the source of the voice, Cullen quickly found Dorian walking with the Inquisitor. Relief filled his veins. He quickly picked himself up and forced his way through the small group of refugees and made his way to the duo. “Ah! Just the man I was looking for.” Dorian proclaimed as Cullen approached.

“Inquisitor!” Cullen exclaimed probably putting more alleviation in his voice than needed. He cleared his throat and addressed Dorian. “Thank you for finding her.”

“It was no problem. She just wanted to pick some flowers for her bed chamber so I helped her pick the best ones. I’ll leave you two kids alone.” Dorian replied with a small wink to Cullen.

Even though he and the Inquisitor had technically been an item for a while, he still felt shy about being around her alone. Her beauty and grace was something that he loved about her, but it also made him feel slightly intimidated. She was perfect to him.

“Why were you looking for me?” her melodious voice entered his ears making him feel suddenly calm. They began the short trek back to her bed chambers so that she could change into the clothes that Josephine and Dorian had so thoughtfully laid out for her.

“I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me; you know, for your birthday.” he stammered. Asking ladies on a date had never been his strong point, even with her. Then again, talking to ladies in general had never been his strong point. He heard her chuckle, which he looked at her in response.

“I would love to Cullen.” she replied, eagerness fresh in her voice. He gave her a loving grin and escorted her back to her chambers all the while avoiding the main hall like it was filled with poison.

\----------

The fancy restaurant in Val Royeaux was more than Cullen had hoped for. Not only did they have many tables available, the wait staff thankfully put them in an area to themselves. He had told her to order anything she liked, no matter the cost, but she insisted that she would stick with ram stew and assorted vegetables. They didn’t talk much as they ate, which gave him all the more time to admire her beauty in the lovely gown that was picked out for her.

While they were returning to her bed chambers, Josephine crossed their path. Once she found out that everything was going according to plan, she insisted that she come with them to help her find something suitable. 

When Ellana emerged from behind the closed door, she was dressed in a floor length periwinkle gown. The short sleeves rested right below her shoulders and from there they flowed down to her torso, which rippled down to her waist before billowing out down to the floor. The high heeled white footwear from Vivienne matched perfectly despite Ellanas’ many protests.

As they finished their meals Cullen finally spoke.

“How was it?” he questioned. A smile washed over her features, which, in turn, made him return the smile.

“I loved it. You’ll have to take me back here again.” she replied with a small chuckle. She was just so beautiful and Cullen couldn’t help but take her hands in his.

“I’ll bring you back any time you like, love.” he replied as he brought her hands to his lips and placed a small kiss on her ring finger.

\----------

In the courtyard of Skyhold, many refugees were wishing their Herald a wonderful birthday, which gave Cullen a moment to slip away and inform Cassandra that they had returned and to keep her busy for a few minutes while he ran to his own bed chambers to grab her present. Cassandra, in return, exited the main hall and directed Ellana’s attention to the small pond in the nearby garden. When she had last seen the garden, it was a shriveled mess.

“We finally finished it about two days ago.” Cassandra informed. The older woman watched as the elf crossed the path to the small pond. Ellana scooped downward to gingerly dip her hand into the crisp, cool water.

“It’s beautiful.” the small elf replied with a smile in her voice. Silence filled the air as she admired the hard work that everyone had put into making this. She knew that it was for her because she had pestered Cullen about it for months. Now that it was done, she couldn’t help but have warm tears sting her eyes. “Thank you.” she finally said as she straightened herself back into standing and wiping her eyes. Cassandra let a smile form on her tough features.

“Cullen was adamant that it get finished before today.” she replied.

\----------

Cullen ran back to his bed chambers, trying to beat the two girls back down before they went inside. He was hoping that Cassandra could stall Ellana so that he could walk back to the main hall with them.

Once he finally arrived, he, more or less, jumped up the ladder to his bed and reached underneath the pillow to retrieve a small felt black box. He opened it one last time and admired her gift. The diamond wasn’t the biggest, but it was all that the blacksmith could manage with the piece that he’d found. The blacksmith even managed to make his one large rock of unprocessed diamond into three; with the largest in the center and two smaller ones lay on each side of the biggest one. He also gathered silver for the band and made it himself, which his biggest fear was it not fitting since he didn’t want to ruin this surprise and ask to measure her finger size.

He snapped the box shut and stuffed it into his coat pocket before he ran back to the girls in the garden.

\----------

“Ready to go inside?” he asked, making the smaller of the two girls jump a bit. Ellana turned to face him with a large smile on her face and nodded. She briskly walked to his side and intertwined her fingers with his and placed her head on his shoulder. He took one glance at Cassandra and she moved to leave; they followed soon after.

The door to the main hall was shut, but they could still hear music from inside. Cullen felt elated for he knew that Cassandra had informed everyone that they would be arriving just a few moments behind her. He dropped her hand to go to the door and grab the handle.

“After you, my dear.” he said with a bow and a wave inside as he opened the door. 

Music erupted from the open door as she stepped inside. Glancing around, then only people she could find was Varric and Dorian playing instruments gaily close to the fireplace. They stopped soon after the two entered. Varric lowered his small drum and approached her.

“Happy birthday Buckles.” he said with his usual timbre. He reached into his coat and handed her a small bag. “It’s small, but I know that you like them.” he declared. She loosened the drawstring on the bag and examined its contents by dumping them onto her hand. She knew them instantly.

“Lilac seeds! Oh, thank you Varric!” Ellana exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him the best she could and gave him a friendly embrace. “I can’t wait to plant these in the garden.” she beamed as she looked at Cullen, who gave her a smile. He noted that seeing her happy was all that mattered to him.

He watched as she made rounds to everyone as they approached the circle to receive gifts and notes. When she finally arrived to him, he gave her a chair for her to rest. It had been a long day after all. Josephine brought out the cake that she had spent all morning baking and they let her blow out something called candles that Dorian and Leliana somehow made with beeswax. He watched a pieces were cut and everyone gathered around the woman of the moment. He was lost in thought when Ellana approached him with a slice of cake, startling him slightly. He declined respectfully and waited for everyone to finish eating. When he noticed that Varric and Dorian were finished, he approached.

“You would mind playing what I asked you?” Cullen asked them calmly. He didn’t want it to seem like he was setting the stage for what he was about to do incase she was watching. The nodded and went back to their instruments and began the song that he had chosen long ago and everyone went silent.

The group seemed to part like the Red Sea as he advanced toward Ellana; she had returned to the chair that he had pulled out for her before the cake came out. He took her hands in his and pulled her to stand.

“Inquisitor, Ellana, will you hear me out?” he asked as he rubbed his thumbs against the tops of her delicate hands. She nodded, confused. “Love isn’t perfect.” he began, never letting his gaze drop from her piercing blue orbs.

“It isn’t a fairytale or a storybook and it sure isn’t easy. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together and holding on and never letting go. It is a short word, easy to spell, difficult to define, and impossible to live without. Love is work, but most of all, love is realizing that every hour, every minute, every second of it was worth it because you did it together.” He finished as he let go of her hands and reached into his coat pocket. He motioned with his free arm for Varric and Dorian to stop playing as well as for Vivienne to begin her snow, and the hall fell silent as he kneeled down on one knee and took her left hand in one hand and held the closed box to face her in the other. “Will you marry me, Ellana?”

She brought her right arm up to her mouth, trying to hide her surprise. She slowly moved her arm back down to open the small box to reveal the ring and she gasped. Warm tears filled her eyes, making the gems sparkle more in the firelight. She looked back at him in his amber eyes and nodded. A warm smile overtook his features as he removed the ring from it’s old home and put it on her left ring finger, its new home, and put the box back in his pocket. She admired the beautiful ring on her finger before she looked back up at him.

“I love you.” she said as she let her tears fall. He leaned in to kiss her and rested his forehead against hers.

“I love you too.” he confessed. 

Sounds of celebration surrounded them, but the world was silent to them. They only had each other, and that’s all they wanted. When they finally snapped back to the outside world, Varric and Dorian had started playing music again; some slow ballad.

Cullen held out his hand and asked; “Care for a dance, Inquisitor?”


End file.
